7 Theological Points to Remember at Christmas

1. Jesus’ arrival in flesh was the work of the entire Trinity—the Father, the Spirit, and of course, Jesus’ own will. Jesus was sent by the Father (John 3:16; 1 John 4:14), was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18-25), and came of his own accord (Philippians 2:6-9).

2. Jesus was God, existed eternally, and had fellowship with the Father before he was born in human form. Rather than being the first act of God’s creation, he co-existed with the Father and Spirit from all eternity (Colossians 1:17; John 17:5)

3. Jesus was a Jew and his vocation was to fulfill Israel’s long expectation for a just, political ruler (Isaiah 9:7). Christ is a title meaning Messiah, taken from the Old Testament, whose coming kingdom would overthrow Israel’s enemies (Psalm 2:5-9; Daniel 7:13-14; Zechariah 14).

4. Jesus emptied himself of his divine privileges in order to fully identify with the human plight (Philippians 2:6-8). He even grew in wisdom and experienced moments of deep anxiety and turmoil (Luke 2:52; 22:44). This allows him to serve as our proper high priest so he could be merciful toward us and our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15).

5. Jesus’ first coming necessitated a second coming. His first coming was to make atonement for sins by his life, death, and resurrection, which planted the seeds of his kingdom (Matthew 13:31). At his second coming, he will do away with sin and death forever (1 Corinthians 15:26; Hebrews 2:8ff; Revelation 20:11ff)

6. Jesus was the perfect representation of God’s character of holy love. Since he shares the same nature with God the Father, he showed us what God is like (John 14:9). This means that Jesus was sinless and could therefore be both the means and end of our salvation (1 Peter 2:22; Hebrews 1:3; 1 John 5:20).

7. Jesus’ arrival in human flesh—known as the incarnation—was an affirmation of the goodness of God’s creation (Genesis 1:31; John 1:14). After Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, God once again affirmed the goodness of our material world by possessing a perpetual resurrected body (1 Corinthians 15).